US newspaper industry revenue fell 2.6 pct in 2013

Monday, April 21, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. newspaper industry revenue fell last year, as increases in circulation revenue weren't high enough to make up for shrinking demand for print advertising, an industry trade group said Friday.

The Newspaper Association of America said revenue fell 2.6 percent to $37.6 billion in 2013.

Circulation revenue rose 3.7 percent to $10.9 billion, the second straight year of growth.

Advertising revenue fell 6.5 percent to $23.6 billion.

In recent years, newspapers have looked to increase revenue from online sources, as more readers turn to the Internet and mobile devices for news. Digital advertising revenue increased 1.5 percent to $3.42 billion. But that wasn't enough to offset an 8.6 percent drop in print advertising revenue to $17.3 billion.

The industry also got a boost from a 2.4 percent increase in direct marketing advertising revenue to $1.4 billion, while advertising revenue related to niche and non-daily publications fell 5.8 percent to $1.45 billion.

Revenue from businesses other than advertising and circulation rose 5 percent to $3.15 billion.

The NAA's numbers are based on a sample of public and private company data collected on a confidential basis.